Family Matters and pleasant distractions

The last week has left me feeling as if I have been on the fast forward button it is good to have distractions.   I have been carrying on with the normal activities that are planned for this time of year buying presents, hosting a children's Christmas party, baking cookies for the cookie swap, and attending an ornament swapping party. All crazy but fun it is so good to laugh. However, all the while knowing I am getting nothing done with my writing . I have not written anything new now for 2 whole weeks .

Life takes over in so  many ways I am not the bubbly extrovert that are some of my many wonderful friends but I do love to get out of the house and have needed to have a change of scene as some of what life throws at you can be unbearable and stressful.  There is nothing you can do except go through this time.Try to stay sane and deal with what is thrown at you. You get through  but not without a few rough days that was last weekend . Living abroad it is an amazing experience, but when there are concerns about your family it is difficult to navigate the minefield . There is a constant yo/yo of  feelings, guilt and responsibility. You want to be there, do all you can, logistics get in the way. You cannot hug someone over the phone.

Anyway, when real life takes over, the writing stops.  I cannot sit and write when there are so many things to think about, my focus, my drive to create has literally been sucked out of me .I feel like a deflated balloon .I have not thought about the story for the last week at all . I have resigned myself to the fact, that it is an incredibly busy time, and refuse to add not writing, to my list of stress, so I let it go . Next week, I do plan to spend a couple of days at my desk, as I would like to try to achieve another chapter before Christmas takes over . I feel calmer this week, having decided to go home and visit my family in January. knowing that this life vest is there, helps to regain some sense of control and inevitably makes me feel better.

I love this quote I hear it mentioned many times and I feel it is particularly relevant to me at this time and I wanted to share it with you ,

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."

Reinhold Niebuhr ( American Theologian )